[LyncStar]

Anyone on this board that's finished in less than 9 hrs done the Idaho Springs to Mt. Evans ride? I'm trying to gauge my fitness and was wondering what time you sub-9rs did that ride in (just interested in the oneway time on the road bike).

Also, any times for the Mt. Falcon parking lot to shelter ride (2.6miles 1440' in elevation gain)?

Thanks much!!

 

[Ptor]

I've only done Idaho Springs to the summit of Mt. Evans once -- I recall a time of around 2:50, doing it by myself, sometime in June, trying to maintain a reasonable pace. I suppose that's a way to judge fitness for Leadville, but I'll bet that there's at least 150 people on the line in any year of the Leadville race that would beat me to the top of Mt. Evans. But the three times I've lined up at Leadville, no more than 21 riders in any of those years have beat me across the line. My point -- it's what happens after the first half of the Columbine Mine climb that really matters...

 

[LyncStar]

it's what happens after the first half of the Columbine Mine climb that really matters...

Are you referring to the hike a bike section? Do tell you secrets (apart from training) for your spectacular times. What is your race strategy and what do you make "happen" after Columbine?

 

[Ptor]

What is your race strategy...

I related my strategy in an earlier thread about doing well at Leadville -- here's the cut and paste of that:

At this point in my life I ride by feel rather than heart rate, and after 30 years of hard riding I know what feels right and what feels wrong. But I am a bit dense when it comes to tactics, so it took three tries to get my race strategy right -- go hard at the beginning so I could sit in with a group that's going the right speed. I ended up treating it pretty much like a road race for the first 40 miles -- don't get dropped from the group and get ushered up to the foot of the big climb. The race explodes at that point, so having much of a plan for the rest of the race seems kind of silly. Clearly you can sit in with a group on the way back if at all possible, but I usually find myself alone for the entire trip back. My plan for the third race got me about 20 minutes extra in the end, but it was probably closer to 30 minutes as I had a catastrophic blowout on the way back (Stan's latex ate my Conti!) that took about 10 minutes to fix.

So, go like hell up that first climb and then sit in all the way to the Columbine Mine climb. This strategy presupposes that you're comfortable in a group and can suck a wheel with the best of them...

...and what do you make "happen" after Columbine?

I don't slow down. Yeah, it's that simple. By sitting in with a fast group out to Columbine, I get to freewheel for about 25 miles. The energy I conserve on the outbound leg is used to keep going hard on the inbound leg. The standard line about taking it easy in the first half so you don't lose it in the second half is correct -- just don't think that you have to go slow while going easy...

(You should note that this is what works for me. There are others with better times than me that undoubtedly have a different/better strategy. Dave Wiens and his ilk ride off the front on the first climb and aren't seen until they're inbound while we're still outbound.)